By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer Visayas
First Posted 16:46:00 05/06/2009
Filed Under: Tourism
ILOILO CITY, Philippines—More than 200 travel agents from the biggest European tour wholesaler are on a familiarization tour of Boracay Island in what tourism officials expect to be a big boost in drawing more Europeans to the resort.
Around 260 tour agents and counter staff of tour consolidator Meier's Weltreisen arrived on the island on Tuesday for a three-day familiarization tour and seminar on the island, Edwin Trompeta, regional director of the Department of Tourism, said in a telephone interview.
The tour for travel agents and staff from 220 travel agencies in Germany and Austria is part of the company's 20th annual Far East Live Seminar (FELS). The group arrived in Manila on May 3.
Travel writers from Germany and Austria and travel trade press representatives also joined the seminar.
The participants are billeted at the newly opened Boracay Shangri-la Resort and Spa, the main venue of the seminar.
They have been doing their rounds of the bars, restaurants, hotels and the beachfront "to get a pulse of the place and the people," according to Trompeta.
Trompeta said the tour was expected to have a big impact on tourist arrivals from Europe especially in Boracay because Meier's Weltreisen accounts for 30 percent of tourist arrivals in Asia.
He cited the impact of Meier's FELS on destinations where it conducted its seminars.
Vietnam's tourist arrivals increased by 40 percent after the 2006 FELS in the country, he said. Tourism also rose in Khao Lak in Thailand after the 2007 FELS there.
He said the activity is estimated to initially bring in around P15 million in tourist revenues to the country.
Germany and the United Kingdom are among the country's biggest tourist markets in Europe. Around 55,000 Germans visit the country each year with more than 5,000 also going to Boracay, according to Trompeta.
Foreign tourist arrivals in the country grew by an average of 10.6 percent in 2004-2008, considered one of the best performing destinations in the world, according to Tourism Secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano in an earlier interview.
Domestic tourism also grew by an average of 18 percent yearly with Boracay Island among the top tourist destinations.
Boracay has reported high occupancy for its 5,800 hotel rooms, and 340 more rooms are under construction.
The tourist arrivals have been boosted by direct flights from Taiwan and Shanghai to the Kalibo airport on the Aklan mainland.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last March announced that investors are also coming in to develop an international airport in Caticlan, the jump-off point to Boracay. Another airport is being eyed on the nearby Carabao Island.
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